Surveys put Suzuki on the top shelf

Suzuki has achieved several accolades for above-average reliability in recent surveys of both new and used cars.

The brand received a thumbs up in the latest 2019 British “What Car?” reliability survey where 18,000 vehicle owners report on running their cars for five years from new, as well as a separate poll of ownership of cars over five years old.

Suzuki is well known for its small car expertise and the marque’s five-door Celerio hatchback won the City and Small car class, with owners reporting 98.9 percent reliability over a five year period. This was well ahead of the 94.7 percent average reliability for the category.

Of the 31 brands measured, Suzuki ranked third in the league table with a score of 97.3 percent. When ownership was measured from cars aged more than five years, Suzuki was second with 92 percent.

With an overall length of just 3.6 metres, the fuel efficient Celerio is the smallest Suzuki model sold in New Zealand while still having generous interior space with a high seating position and good visibility. Although a modest seller, the Celerio has attracted 7 percent more buyers in New Zealand for the January to August period compared to the same eight month period last year.

The “What Car?” survey also rated the Suzuki Vitara highly, with the popular and versatile compact five-door scoring 97.6 percent in the owner poll for the small SUV category. This was comfortably ahead of the 93.3 percent average result for the class.

Steve Huntingford, “What Car?” editor, said, “Long-term dependability is important for used car buyers and anyone wanting to keep their car for a long time. Suzuki is one of the few brands whose cars remain persistently reliable as the years pile on.”

Suzuki Great Britain recently ranked the best car brand in the Institute of Customer Service’s UK Customer Satisfaction Index. The research asked 45,000 consumers to rate their experience and Suzuki ranked first out of 24 motor vehicle manufacturers.

In the institute’s survey, Suzuki scored strongly in several categories, including experience, customer ethos, emotional connection and ethics.

In a further survey, the number of problems Suzuki owners faced were reported to be well below the motor industry average. Warranty Direct in Britain named the Suzuki Jimny and Vitara as second and third most reliable SUV.

These results are reflected in the on-going demand for the product. Total new SUV sales in New Zealand year to date are down slightly on the same period in 2018 yet local Jimny sales, spurred on by the arrival of the new generation model, are up 16.4 percent, and Vitara sales have risen 1.5 percent.

Warranty Direct indicated many Swift owners have given the popular Swift full marks for dependability and that Suzuki models are more consistent in their reliability than many other brands.

CarBuyer UK, another independent site, said the Vitara “feels built to last” and reported that owners were happy with running costs, acceleration, handling and rear seat legroom for the model which comes with a perfect 5 Star NCAP safety rating.

In 2017 Suzuki was deemed the most reliable car in New Zealand, according to the Consumer New Zealand automotive survey. Last year Suzuki ranked tops with 97.7 percent in the “What Car?” reliability survey, followed by luxury brand Lexus (97.5 percent) and Toyota (96.8 percent).